Armenia PM accuses opposition of ‘blackmail,’ cuts debate short

Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan (L) stands before leaving a televised meeting with anti-government protest leader Nikol Pashinyan (R) shortly after it began in a hotel in Yerevan, Armenia, on April 22, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

Negotiations between Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan and opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan have collapsed, leaving the country in a state of limbo, as widespread protests against the former president’s appointment as premier enter the 10th day.

The Armenian premier met with opposition leader Pashinyan for televised dialog in the capital, Yerevan, on Sunday, but walked out a few minutes after the meeting started.

“This is not talks, not a dialog, it’s just an ultimatum, blackmail of the state, of the legitimate authorities,” Sargsyan told Pashinyan, rejecting opposition demands to step down in the wake of days of protests over his appointment to the post.

The premier said the opposition “did not learn the lesson of March 1,” referring to a protest rally after his reelection in 2008 when 10 people were killed in clashes with police.

Pashinyan said in response, "No one has dared and will dare speak to us in the language of threats. I am telling you: you have no understanding of the situation in the country. The situation is different to the one you knew 15-20 days ago.”

“The situation in Armenia has changed, you don’t have the power of which you are told. In Armenia, the power has passed to the people,” he added, addressing Sargsyan.

Reports later emerged that the opposition figure had been arrested; however, police denied the reports, explaining that Pashinyan had been removed from an illegal protest rally site by force but not taken into custody.

“Despite repeated calls to stop illegal rallies, Pashinyan continued leading a demonstration” in Yerevan, police said in a statement, adding that he and two other opposition lawmakers “were forcibly taken from the site” as riot police dispersed the rally.

Law enforcement officers disperse the crowd during a protest against the appointment of ex-president Serzh Sargsyan as the new prime minister, in Yerevan, Armenia, on April 22, 2018. (Photo by Reuters)

There is an ongoing campaign of “civil disobedience” meant to show public opposition to what is perceived as Sargsyan’s efforts to cling on to power in a new parliamentary system of government. The former military officer ruled Armenia under a presidential system for 10 years.

The peak of the protests was last Tuesday, when some 40,000 people demonstrated in the capital after the parliament elected Sargsyan as the new prime minister. Under controversial amendments to the constitution passed in 2015, governing powers will be transferred from the presidency to the premier.

Armenia’s new president, Armen Sarkissian, was sworn in on April 9 but he has much less power under the new governance system, where the presidency is largely a ceremonial position.